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United States Military
The United States Military (USM) is composed of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. They are collectively referred to as the Armed Forces of the United States. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All five armed services are among the seven uniformed services of the United States. The other two being United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps or NOAA Corps. About The U.S. Armed Forces are one of the largest militaries in terms of the number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a large pool of paid volunteers. Although conscription has been used in the past in various times of both war and peace, it has not been used since 1973, but the Selective Service System retains the power to conscript males, and requires that all male citizens and residents residing in the U.S. between the ages of 18–25 register with the service. On February 22, 2017, however, a federal judge ruled that registering only males for Selective Service is unconstitutional. As per Credit Suisse, the U.S. Armed Forces are the world's most powerful military. As of 2024, the U.S. constitutes roughly 42 percent of the world's military expenditures. The U.S. Armed Forces has significant capabilities in both defense and power projection due to its large budget, resulting in advanced and powerful technologies which enables a widespread deployment of the force around the world, including around 800 military bases outside the United States.The U.S. Air Force is the world's largest air force, the U.S. Navy is the world's largest navy by tonnage, and the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps combined are the world's second largest air arm. In terms of size, the U.S. Coast Guard is the world's 11th largest naval force. Foundational History From the time of its inception, the U.S. Armed Forces played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of national unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War. Even so, the founders of the United States were suspicious of a permanent military force. It played a critical role in the American Civil War, continuing to serve as the armed forces of the United States, although a number of its officers resigned to join the military of the Confederate States. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold War's onset, created the modern U.S. military framework. The Act established the National Military Establishment, headed by the secretary of defense; and created the Department of the Air Force and the National Security Council. It was amended in 1949, renaming the National Military Establishment the Department of Defense, and merged the cabinet-level Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, and Department of the Air Force, into the Department of Defense. History-in-Brief The history of the U.S. Armed Forces dates to 14 June 1775, with the creation of the Continental Army, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States. The Continental Navy, established on 13 October 1775, and Continental Marines, established on 10 November 1775, were created in close succession by the Second Continental Congress in order to defend the new nation against the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War. These forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. The Congress of the Confederation created the current United States Army on 3 June 1784. The United States Congress created the current United States Navy on 27 March 1794 and the current United States Marine Corps on 11 July 1798. All three services trace their origins to their respective Continental predecessors. The 1787 adoption of the Constitution gave the Congress the power to "raise and support armies", to "provide and maintain a navy" and to "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces", as well as the power to declare war. The president is the U.S. Armed Forces' commander-in-chief. The United States Coast Guard traces its origin to the founding of the Revenue Cutter Service on 4 August 1790 which merged with the United States Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915 to establish the Coast Guard. The United States Air Force was established as an independent service on 18 September 1947; it traces its origin to the formation of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, which was formed 1 August 1907 and was part of the Army Air Forces before becoming an independent service as per the National Security Act of 1947. The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps was formerly considered to be a branch of the United States Armed Forces from 29 July 1945 until its status as such was revoked on 3 July 1952. Plans for an American Space Force have been permanently abandoned after the singing of the 2021 World Accord and the 2024 Global Space Fare Treaties. These made it officially illegal for any Nation State to have their own space fleet, hoard technologies that came from or were derived from the Stargate Program or start nation specific space colonization efforts. Command over the U.S. Armed Forces is established in the Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the president by Article II as commander-in-Chief. The Constitution presumes the existence of "executive Departments" headed by "principal officers", whose appointment mechanism is provided for in the Appointments Clause. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act. The DoD is headed by the secretary of defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The defense secretary is second in the U.S. Armed Forces chain of command, with the exception of the Coast Guard, which is under the secretary of homeland security, and is just below the president and serves as the principal assistant to the president in all defense-related matters.23 Together, the president and the secretary of defense comprise the National Command Authority, which by law is the ultimate lawful source of military orders.24 Command Structure To coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the president has a National Security Council headed by the national security advisor. The collective body has only advisory power to the president, but several of the members who statutorily comprise the council (the secretary of state, the secretary of energy and the secretary of defense) possess executive authority over their own departments. Just as the president, the secretary of defense, and the secretary of homeland security, are in charge of the entire military establishment, maintaining civilian control of the military, so too are each of the Defense Department's constitutive military departments headed by civilians. The four DoD branches are organized into three departments, each with civilian heads. The Department of the Army is headed by the secretary of the Army, the Department of the Navy is headed by the secretary of the Navy and the Department of the Air Force is headed by the secretary of the Air Force. The Marine Corps is organized under the Department of the Navy, however it is still considered a separate and equal service. The Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security and receives its operational orders from the secretary of homeland security. However, the Coast Guard may be transferred to the Department of the Navy by the president or Congress during a time of war, thereby placing it within the DoD. The president, secretary of defense and other senior executive officials are advised by a seven-member Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is headed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking officer in the United States military and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The rest of the body is composed of the heads of each of the DoD's service branches (the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of naval operations, the commandant of the Marine Corps and the chief of staff of the Air Force) as well as the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Although commanding one of the five military branches, the commandant of the Coast Guard is not a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Despite being composed of the highest-ranking officers in each of the respective branches, the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not possess operational command authority. Rather, the Goldwater-Nichols Act charges them only with advisory power. All of the branches work together during operations and joint missions in Unified Combatant Commands, under the authority of the secretary of defense with the typical exception of the Coast Guard. Each of the Unified Combatant Commands is headed by a combatant commander, a senior commissioned officer who exercises supreme command authority per 10 U.S.C. § 164 over all of the forces, regardless of branch, within his geographical or functional command. By statute, the chain of command flows from the president to the secretary of defense to each of the combatant commanders. In practice, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff often acts as an intermediary between the secretary of defense and the combatant commanders. Order of Precedence Under current Department of Defense regulation, the various components of the U.S. Armed Forces have a set order of seniority. Examples of the use of this system include the display of service flags, placement of soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen and coast guardsmen in formation, etc. When the Coast Guard shall operate as part of the Department of the Navy, United States Coast Guard Academy cadets, the United States Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve shall take precedence after United States Naval Academy midshipmen; the United States Navy; and Navy Reserve, respectively. *Cadets, U.S. Military Academy *Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy *Cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy (when part of the Department of the Navy) *Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy *Cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy (when part of the Department of Homeland Security) *Midshipmen, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy *United States Army *United States Marine Corps *United States Navy *United States Coast Guard (when part of the Department of the Navy) *United States Air Force *United States Coast Guard (when part of Department of the Homeland Security) *Army National Guard of the United States *United States Army Reserve *United States Marine Corps Reserve *United States Navy Reserve *United States Coast Guard Reserve (when part of the Department of the Navy) *Air National Guard of the United States *United States Air Force Reserve *United States Coast Guard Reserve (when part of the Department of Homeland Security) *Other training and auxiliary organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine, Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary, as in the preceding order. The CAP was constituted through the Administrative Order 9 of 1 December 1941 and operated under the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. The CAP became the official civilian auxiliary of the newly independent USAF with the enactment of Public Law 80-557 on 26 May 1948. Notes *The World Accords on the Non-Proliferation of Nation State Owned Advanced Stargate Program Derived or Obtained Technologies was signed in 2021 at Homeworld Command. *The two most important Global Space Fare Treaties singed at the Moon Base in 2024 are the Treaty for prohibition on nation state specific space colonization and Treaty for the prohibition for nation state specific space fleets for warfare, leisure, exploration, commercialism and consumerism. *While the U.S. Navy is older than the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps takes precedence due to previous inconsistencies in the Navy's birth date. The Marine Corps has recognized its observed birth date on a more consistent basis. The Second Continental Congress is considered to have established the Navy on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the purchase of ships, but did not actually pass the "Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies" until 27 November 1775. The Marine Corps was established by act of said Congress on 10 November 1775. The Navy did not officially recognize 13 October 1775 as its birth date until 1972, when then–chief of naval operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt authorized it to be observed as such. Navigation Category:Military Organizations